Mayor of the District of Columbia
| Mayor of the District of Columbia | |
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| Term length | Four years, renewable |
| Inaugural holder | Walter E. Washington |
| Formation | 1973 |
| Website | mayor.dc.gov |
The Mayor of the District of Columbia is the head of the executive branch of the government of Washington, D.C.. The Mayor has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Council of the District of Columbia. In addition, the Mayor oversees all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and the public school system within the District of Columbia. The mayor's office oversees an annual city budget of $8.8 billion.
The Executive Office of the Mayor is located in the John A. Wilson Building in downtown Washington, D.C. The Mayor appoints several officers, including the Deputy Mayors for Education and Planning & Economic Development, the City Administrator, the chancellor of the city's public schools, the Office of Latino Affairs, and the department heads of city agencies.
The structure of Washington, D.C.'s city government has changed several times since the City of Washington (a smaller municipality within the District of Columbia) was officially granted a formal government in 1802. From 1802 to 1812, the mayor was appointed by the President of the United States; Washington's first mayor was Robert Brent, appointed in 1802 by Thomas Jefferson. Between 1812 and 1820, the city's mayors were then selected by a city council. From 1820 to 1871 the mayor was popularly elected.
Originally, four separate municipalities were located within the District of Columbia, and each was governed separately: the City of Washington, Georgetown, Alexandria County (retroceded to the state of Virginia in 1846), and unincorporated territory known as Washington County. With the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871, the District of Columbia was united under a single territorial government, whose chief executive was governor. This office was abolished in 1874, after only two governors (Henry D. Cooke and Alexander Robey Shepherd) and replaced with a three-member board of commissioners appointed by the president. This system existed until 1967, when President Lyndon B. Johnson created the office of mayor-commissioner, to be appointed by the president. This office had only one occupant in its eight years of existence: Walter E. Washington.
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